Beekeeping, honey production and wild bees
It is estimated that pollinators contribute at least 22 billion Euros each year to European agriculture, with 84% of crops needing insect pollination, and more than 80% of wild flowers require pollinators to reproduce. However, throughout Europe there a severe decline in the numbers of wild bees and other pollinators and managed honeybees have been reported, and this trend is expected to continue.
The EU has more than 2,500 species of wild bees and one species, the honeybee (Apis mellifera), which has been domesticated and is widely managed; there are also a few other species of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and Osmia bee which are also managed for pollination services but on a smaller scale.
These EU bee species play an important role in both crop and wild flower pollination and honeybees also provide honey and other apiculture products within the EU.
The European Commission is working on a number of different areas that affect bees and the beekeeping sector including the following:
- Bee health
- Veterinary Medicines
- Residues in honey
- Pollination and biodiversity
- Pesticides
- Research
- Practical information for bee keepers
Commission steps up efforts to tackle bee mortality
The European Commission adopted on the 6th of December 2010 a Communication providing for a series of specific actions that will help to better understand the reasons behind the worldwide issue of high bee mortality and will therefore assist the efforts to find solutions to the problem. You can read the Communication here
. The other language versions will follow soon.
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